As there was no dinner to blog today (leftover lamb curry from the other day) I thought I'd give a bit more of my ongoing house/stuff tour.  If I were clever and not lazy, I'd join these two photos to show the view across the whole bookcase, but I just can't want to do that right now (a phrase stolen from my friend's 16YO - she used to say it when she was about 3 and now, both families do!). 

This year, the top of the big bookcase in the living room has mostly coloured glass. Most of it isn't anything particularly special - it's been acquired here and there, especially the stuff on the left side. There is a small red glass ashtray which my mother gave me which is at least collectible if not antique, but otherwise, it's just coloured glass.   On the right, though are a few more interesting pieces - the perfume bottle was a gift, and the pumpkin (blue and green) was bought at the shop at the Corning Glass Museum. I love it - I had a terrible time deciding which pumpkin to buy - there were so many lovely ones. The other glass piece came from Malta - or rather, Gozo - when I went there on holiday some years ago. They are known for this type of glass.  The large plate is a piece I bought many years ago, perhaps at a Montgomery potters show in the US.

As for what's in the bookcase, the left hand square has a molded dish made by my mum and a tall vase which was a wedding present from a woman I used to be in a pottery class with. I love the texture on that and the deliberate distortions. Can't remember where the small oriental dish came from or the tiny ceramic box on that shelf.

Moving along, there's a large plate which I think I may have bought in Ireland and a wooden cat of unknown origin.  The pitcher in the centre square is from a craft show, along with a small Mexican elephant (from Ensenada), a little wooden box with bells (unknown) and an anniversary card from my husband from several years ago, which probably came from a shop in Camden Market. But I like it, so it often stays out. I have another one, obviously the same artist, with a large flower on it.

The orange square has a piece of my mother's Raku pottery, a lemonade bottle which Olivia decoupaged and some fake flowers. Also a small oriental box which may have come from a shop in Neal Street, Covent Garden. Or not.  And finally, another plate, which was a gift, but I don't remember who from - my mum probably. And a purple glass bottle whose stopper seems to have gone walkabout since I got it and a glass paperweight which I think was a housewarming gift (when we moved into the previous place we lived), from a work colleague of the time. I might be wrong on that one!